The Ghana National Petroleum Cooperation (GNPC) Foundation on Thursday donated 10 boreholes to the Bawku Municipal, Bongo, Builsa North and South Districts in the Upper East Region.

About four communities including Asigri, Kutanga, Sagabo and Misiga benefited from the Bawku Municipal gift.

The Builsa South and North had three communities getting a borehole each, while the Bongo district also benefited from three of the boreholes.
The move was part of the Foundation’s corporate responsibility to ensure that these communities had access to efficient reliable supply of portable drinking water.

Dr Desmund Eduah, Executive Director of the GNPC at a brief ceremony to hand over the boreholes to the communities at Sagabo said the Foundation was committed to promoting quality livelihood among the people and indicated that the initiatives include support for education and health.

Dr Eduah hinted that the foundation had already sponsored about 200 students across the country to pursue medical related programmes overseas.
He said the expectation is that the beneficiaries would return to the country and offer service to reduce the deficit in the Doctor- patient ratio that the country has been battling with, especially in deprived communities.

He gave the assurance that the Upper East Region was not left out in this offer, adding that the foundation would continue to promote the welfare of the people.

He explained that 100 of the boreholes were donated to deprived communities across the country and said out of the number, 60 of them were given to the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions with the Northern Regions receiving 40 of them, while 20 were shared among the Upper East and the Upper West Regions.

The Director said the Foundation would work hard to compliment efforts of government by providing more classrooms to enhance quality teaching and learning in the regions.

The Upper East Regional Minister, Madam Paulina Patience Abayage, in address read for her noted that the move would improve on the water, sanitation and hygiene of the beneficiary communities adding that water was essential in sustaining humanity.

Madam Abayage said as part of efforts to improve on the provision of water in the region, government had made funds available for expansion works on the Tono water treatment plant to serve about 30 communities including Navrongo, Bolgatanga, Bongo and some parts of the Talensi district.

She said the expansion of the Tono Dam would provide portable drinking water for the people and prevent diseases such as malaria, cholera and typhoid among others, indicating that the boreholes and toilets under the government’s special initiative projects were also under construction across the region.

She charged the chiefs and people of the beneficiary communities to practice maintenance culture to prolong the live spun of the boreholes.

Sagabo, one of the beneficiary communities with a population of about 3,500 is expected to benefit from the borehole, while about 745 pupils from different communities near the area at the Junior High and primary schools would no long scout for water before attending classes.